New Storage Heater Query

eric4395

10 year old creda storage heater went on the blink despite electrician replacing thermostat & cut off switch Was either to hot or too cold every morning

.Bought a new modern one ecostrad magma 3.4 kw. Obviously works on the reduced economy rate charging during the night. Early days trying to get used to it, & programming set temps etc however i set it to 18 deg to come on between the hours of 00:00 and 2 am and then between 5 am and 7 am so within the timescale of the cheaper rate times 23:30 pm till 07:30 am.

Gets up in the morning heater hot & room warm and programmed to be at 18 deg all day i hoped. Needless to say come about 8pm temp has dropped and room is colder.

i checked my smart app to see the electric usage per hour during the night

00:00 to 1:00 2.06 kwh 1:00 -2:00 6.81kwh 2.00- 3:00 4.75kwh !! 3:00-4:00 0.95 wh 4:00 -5:00 0.24 wh 5:00- 6:00 1.8kwh 6:00-7:00 4.04kwh 7:00- 8-00 0.478 wh.

How or why would i use 4:75 Kwh between 2:00 & 3:00

The night b4 i left it on all night but it used more electricity than my previous old one used despite only being set for 18 deg

Over £800 for a new modern one and already im having my doubts.

RedFraggle

Is that a long enough charge?

eric4395

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925496#Comment_81925496

I gave it the full charge the night before but as i said when i seen what it had cost i tried the 2 separate settings instead. I dont even switch the hot water cylinder on at night, ( just put the booster on in the morning for 30 mins) so thats not using any electricity either at night.

Scot_39

You are likely confusi g charge times (input) and home heating times (time shifted output).

Tou want to program output to match needs - and let it charge as required in e7 window or less often if modern adaptive charging like Dimplex and Elnurs.

QrizB

I agree with Scot_39 that you should be programming the times when you want heat, not the times when you want it to charge.

Provided it has a dual feed and has been correctly installed it'll automatically charge during the off-peak period, no timing required.

eric4395

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925549#Comment_81925549

. It is dual connections with off peak and 24 hr if required.

i did let it charge the full off peak time the night before. Then it was only set at 18 deg during the day but even that ran out before 8pm with the heater being cool.

eric4395

Am i not charging it less often by setting it twice between Midnight and 2 am and 5am and 7am?. It hasnt really worked and also despite charging it all thro the previous night it hasnt worked either if the heater has went cool by 8pm. Thought these new modern ones were meant to be more efficient to run and have more control. Maybe i just need to experiment more with the settings

Ildhund

@eric4395 wrote:

I gave it the full charge the night before but as i said when i seen what it had cost i tried the 2 separate settings instead.

This type of heater is really smart, but it has to learn how best to provide the heat you need when you want it. The manual contains this statement: "It can take up to a week for the storage heater to calibrate the overnight charge to suit the room’s heat needs." You won't enjoy the full advantage of your investment if you don't allow the heater to learn.

eric4395

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925638#Comment_81925638

Yes thats the heater i have any ideas how you would set this up to get best results. Ie Just let it charge all night for the 1st few nights despite the cost of the expensive overnight charges. What temp to set it at, ? i would have thought 18 deg wasnt too high or too low in these current temps. its easy enough to follow the instructions in manual but that doesnt really explain if you are getting maximum use out of it or not. At the moment its set on comfort zone & says on the digital screen 12% charge left Boost temperature 18 deg . until midnight then 18 deg, so in other words just been set at that all day,,

however its not 18 deg now in the room as the heater is cool, it has 12% charge left for today with only 4 hrs to midnight.. Electrician set it up for a weekly schedule 24/7 rather than a fixed temp set manually setting.

My old storage heater would have showed i used approx £ 3 to £ 3:50 overnight when i got up in the morning at 9am ish (thats for 2 storage heaters i have another in the hall that still works ok).

The new storage heater when i left it on between the economy charging hours of 23:30 and 07:30 showed me using approx £ 5 by 9am ish ! thats why i tried different settings the following night twice for 2 hrs each. However it was cheaper at £4 ish at 9 am but either way the heat is gone by 20:00 hrs, and theres no way the room is 18 deg.

Im willing to admit its prob me and the way i have set it up thats the problem ( i think ,😊) rather than the new heater but im getting the feeling that yes you may eventually get enough comfortable heating temps to last you 24 hrs but its going to be prob higher bills to get there.

i was under the impression it would be more controllable heat for maybe less cost, was i being naive.

Scot_39

Just quickly checked the Ecostrad Magma specs - its an HHR model - and like other HHRs - has an adaptive charge control.

https://ecostrad.com/magma-hhr/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BrJd1sc22jLyTfmQLj7KbJpHT6HCMbGa/view

The larger models also appear to have a 750W "boost" element - they call it "top-up" so failing to allow sufficient charge - or fitting too low a rating for the space (the largest model says upto 26m2) - could use day rate power.

The manual states that it can take a week for the charge adaption to settle.

Its a bit worrying if the heater had fully exhausted it's ability to heat - as its fairly mild (Dimplex sizing calc used to iirc assumes rated for -3C - and for Scotland suggested lowering to -5C iirc - but its been changed now to just selecting country) - and its nowhere near that right now - well not here.

It would have to be wildly undersized - or undercharging - to not work at current ambient temperatures.

HHR's are explicitly designed not to leak heat - the case will - by design - feel colder than an older NSH model.

WiserMiser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925714#Comment_81925714

>'The new storage heater when i left it on between the economy charging hours of 23:30 and 07:30 showed me using approx £ 5 by 9am ish !'

What's your tariff? It's not Economy 7.

Similarly, have you watched the meter on the wall switching over at precisely those times? If not, you're probably charging at peak rate for some of the session. Remember that in some areas there may be a gap with E7 times, e.g. 2230-0030 and 0130-0630 GMT.

Best to program the balancing element / top-up heater to be permanently off, you don't want it kicking in unexpectedly and inflating your bills.

Where did you get the ££ figures? If it's from the heater it's very unlikely they'll be accurate unless you've programmed it with accurate tariff costs and times.